Terminology of materials about new religious movements in print media

Abstract

This article analyses the results of a study of the terminology of articles on new religious movements in the print media of the Republic of Belarus in 1988–2015. The sample included 631 press articles; 76 different special terms were used by the press to name organised forms of unconventional religiosity. It is shown that practically all, including initially neutral terms, acquire negative connotations rather quickly after getting into the press. Negatively loaded terms can be used even in neutral articles on new religious movements. At the same time, terminology as a whole turned out to be a secondary component in the process of covering the problems of unconventional religiosity. In a significant group of articles (48.5 %), there are no special terms at all. Print media criticise new religious movements and identify religious communities, both with and without specific terms without any substantive difference. The discourse of the print media is distinguished by the least sensitivity to the simplest semantic shades and differences between special terms among all other institutions of society. The degree of prevalence and frequency of use in the press of all found special terms was revealed.